4 ms·

I really loved Threadless back in the day and this was an interesting read. While it did a good job of covering what changes Threadless made that ultimately cha

I really loved Threadless back in the day and this was an interesting read. While it did a good job of covering what changes Threadless made that ultimately changed the culture around it and led to its fall, it didn't cover the why. Was their model no longer profitable? Were they facing outside competition (and what was that competition doing better?). Did they take money and have to grow big / fast and therefore started selling to big box stores to increase revenues? I don't see any reason why Threadless couldn't still be a profitable business (god forbid a lifestyle business) even today if they had maintained their cachet but maybe I'm missing something.

foepys 9y ago
There is https://www.qwertee.com https://www.qwertee.com for more "nerd-oriented" stuff. But I never used them, only looked at some designs.
- loopbit 9y ago
  I have quite a few and I'm happy enough with them. They also have some sizing issues but all it usually mean is that one tshirt will be a bit tighter/looser than other of the same size (the fact that I'm between two sizes doesn't help) but the print quality is decent.
Cthulhu_ 9y ago
They pivoted to a system where all artists get a chance to make money - and probably moreso than the original prize - while also scaling beyond just one or a couple designs per week. I think there's a lot more potential money in that approach, however it's no longer the Threadless formula. I'd get links shared to Threadless frequently when they had a new fun or cool design, and I think those were so popular because it was always limited availability - one week only, get it now or forever lose it. What they should've done IMO is spin off a secondary company or website, approach Threadless' thousands of artists and get them to publish to that one too - while keeping the weekly competition and availability that made Threadless neat.

foepys 9y ago

There is https://www.qwertee.com https://www.qwertee.com for more "nerd-oriented" stuff. But I never used them, only looked at some designs.

loopbit 9y ago
I have quite a few and I'm happy enough with them. They also have some sizing issues but all it usually mean is that one tshirt will be a bit tighter/looser than other of the same size (the fact that I'm between two sizes doesn't help) but the print quality is decent.

Cthulhu_ 9y ago

They pivoted to a system where all artists get a chance to make money - and probably moreso than the original prize - while also scaling beyond just one or a couple designs per week. I think there's a lot more potential money in that approach, however it's no longer the Threadless formula. I'd get links shared to Threadless frequently when they had a new fun or cool design, and I think those were so popular because it was always limited availability - one week only, get it now or forever lose it. What they should've done IMO is spin off a secondary company or website, approach Threadless' thousands of artists and get them to publish to that one too - while keeping the weekly competition and availability that made Threadless neat.